A Tuesday Night in Berkshire — Don't Mind If I Do

Now listen, there are worse ways to spend a Tuesday evening in September than watching a half-decent card of National Hunt racing at Ascot. The sun might be threatening to hang around a little longer than it has any right to, but the jumpers are out, the ground is described as Good — freshened up nicely by the vertidrain since Friday's racing — and there's enough on the Ascot racecard to keep even the most hardened punter from nodding off into their Guinness.

Six races, a mix of handicap chases, novice hurdles, and handicap hurdles across distances ranging from two miles to nearly three. It's not Cheltenham in March, granted, but there's quality dotted throughout, some genuinely intriguing novice types making their mark, and — if you know where to look — a few horses that could be very well handicapped indeed once the season proper gets going. Let's have a rummage, shall we?

The Feature Race: John Hewitt Memorial Novices' Limited Handicap Chase

The race I had circled in red biro all week was the 17:12 John Hewitt Memorial Novices' Limited Handicap Steeple Chase — Class 3, two miles and a furlong, twelve grand in the pot, and a field of four that reads like a proper little contest. Don't be fooled by the small numbers; sometimes less is more, and this one had the makings of a genuine head-to-head.

Roadlesstravelled (Jonjo O'Neill Jr.) comes in as the top-rated at 132 and is the one they all had to beat. Jonjo Jr. is riding with real confidence this season — he's got that lovely, patient style that suits a horse who needs time to warm into a race, and if Roadlesstravelled travels as well as his name suggests, he's a serious proposition. But at 132, the handicapper hasn't exactly been generous, and in a novices' limited contest, the margins are fine.

The one I couldn't stop thinking about was Captain Cool (Sean Quinlan, rated 131), who holds the course and distance form [C,D] — and that matters on a track like Ascot, where the undulations and the way the ground rides can catch out a horse who hasn't been here before. Quinlan is a jockey who doesn't get half the credit he deserves, and if Captain Cool jumps well from the front, he could make this a proper test. One rating point between them at the top of the market — this was a coin-flip of a race, and I mean that as a compliment to both.

Harry Skelton on Krak (115) is the interesting third string — there's a 17-rating gap to bridge, but Skelton doesn't ride no-hopers, and Dan Skelton's yard has been in fine fettle. Keep Krak in your notebook.

Ones to Follow — Horses Worth Tracking Into Autumn

Right, here's where I earn my keep. Let me give you the horses I'll be watching closely as the season builds.

  • Hidden Fortune (Harry Skelton, 17:42 Novices' Hurdle) — Unrated, which tells you he's relatively lightly raced, and Harry Skelton doesn't take Tuesday evening bookings at Ascot for fun. If this horse runs with any promise in the Paul Ferguson's Jumpers To Follow Novices' Hurdle, write the name down in permanent marker. The novice hurdle division is wide open at this stage of the season, and an unexposed sort with Skelton in the plate could be anything.
  • Hillview (Gavin Sheehan, 19:12 Bangor-on-Dee Handicap Hurdle) — Course and distance form [C,D] in a Class 5 over nearly three miles. Sheehan is a horseman who reads a race beautifully, and Hillview's stamina credentials over 2m 7f on Good ground are not in question. If there's a market move here, follow it. Present Fair [C,D] is the obvious danger, but Hillview is the one I fancy.
  • Roarin' Success (Theo Gillard, 18:42 Sun Racing Summer Jumps Championship) — Course form [D] at a mark of 104 in a Class 4 over two miles. Gillard has been quietly impressive this season, and a horse with course experience at this trip in a competitive-looking handicap hurdle is always worth a second glance. The Sun Racing Summer Jumps Championship Handicap Hurdle is a decent prize and the form could work out nicely.
  • Rock Hurley (Mr Harry Brown, 18:12 Wrexham Lager Handicap Hurdle) — Course and distance form [C,D], rated 102 in a Class 5. Amateur riders can sometimes be underestimated by the market, and Mr Harry Brown is no mug in the saddle. With Cappa Lass a non-runner tightening the field, Rock Hurley's course-and-distance claims look even more relevant.

Jockey and Trainer Combinations Worth Noting

You can't talk about an evening card like this without tipping your hat to the jockey bookings. Harry Skelton has three rides tonight — Krak in the feature chase, Hidden Fortune in the novice hurdle, and Lunar Orbit in the handicap hurdle, plus Playful Fox [D] in the Summer Jumps Championship. That's a full book from one of the sharpest jockeys in the game, and Dan Skelton's operation doesn't scatter runners around without purpose. When Harry's got four rides at a midweek evening meeting, pay attention — they'll have something they fancy.

Jonjo O'Neill Jr. doubles up with Country Park in the opener and Roadlesstravelled in the feature — and he's been in fine form, riding with a maturity that belies his years. His father's training operation has been ticking along nicely, and a double here wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Theo Gillard is another with a busy book tonight — three rides including Jiair Madrik, Zamond, and Roarin' Success. He's a young jockey building real momentum, and connections clearly trust him with their better horses. One to watch as a rider, not just in terms of tonight's results.

And spare a thought for the amateur contingent — Miss Ellie Callwood on the unrated Cadillac Ranch in the novice hurdle is a booking that catches the eye. Unrated, unknown, but that's sometimes exactly how the good ones arrive.

Looking Ahead — Where Do These Horses Go Next?

September evening meetings are as much about the future as the present. The proper jumps season is only weeks away, and tonight's runners will be pointing towards autumn targets once connections see how they shape up.

Roadlesstravelled and Captain Cool — whichever comes out on top in the feature — could both be aimed at something more prestigious once the Grade 2 and Grade 3 novice chase programme kicks in around November. A horse rated 131-132 after a novice limited handicap has plenty of options, and connections of both will be watching the entries closely.

Hidden Fortune, if he shows anything in the novice hurdle, is the type who could step up markedly in trip as the season progresses. Stamina is often where the unrated novices find their niche, and a horse with a name like that deserves to be given a chance to fulfil the promise.

Hillview in the staying handicap hurdle is exactly the type who could pop up at something like the Ascot November meeting or even a decent Saturday card at Newbury or Sandown once the weights and conditions fall right. Course-and-distance form at a reasonable mark — that's a recipe that works all winter long.

Final Word — An Evening Well Spent

Look, it's a Tuesday evening card in early September and nobody's pretending it's the King George. But Ascot in any guise is a proper track, the Good ground should have produced fair, honest jumping, and there are horses on tonight's Ascot racecard that we'll be talking about in very different company come January and February.

Keep Hidden Fortune, Hillview, and Roarin' Success in your notebooks. Watch what Harry Skelton does with his four rides and what it tells you about Dan Skelton's autumn plans. And if Captain Cool has done the business in the feature, remember you read it here first — that course-and-distance form was always going to count for something.

Right. Same again? I thought so.